Ms. Li Shihong's Family Persecuted for Ten Years

2 August 2009

Lu Hai, a 13-year-old boy, had to live with his grandmother, Song Wenxiu, after his father, Lu Qiqi, and his mother, Li Shihong, were arrested last year.

Then, on June 12th, 2009, when Jiang'an District Court in Wuhan City, Hubei Province held a trial for three Falun Gong practitioners, Ms. Song Wenxiu wanted to be present. When she neared the courthouse, she was arrested by the Riot Division at the Jiang'an District Police Substation. She was later detained in the Chenjiaji Brainwashing Centre in Jiang'an District.

Poor little Lu Hai now has to live all by himself. He has lost his dear grandmother, who looked after him. In Lu Hai's memory, there were few times when his whole family was ever together over the past ten years. His father, his mother, and even his grandmother were often arrested. There are many incurable wounds to his fragile heart.

A few days after his grandmother was arrested, officers from Danshuichi Police Station and agents from the Domestic Security Division of Jiang'an District Police Substation went again to his school. By means of deceit and threats, they interrogated Lu Hai and forced him to sign a document. They pressed his fingerprint on the written statement of his interrogation record.

Ms. Song Arrested and Home Ransacked in Broad Daylight

On March 31st, 2009, after Ms. Song Wenxiu came downstairs from her apartment, she was captured by a crowd of plain clothes officers hiding outside her apartment building. They rushed at her and grabbed her, and covered her mouth with their hands, then forced her into a police wagon. At the same time, they took the key to her apartment from her pocket. The one with the key immediately rushed to her apartment upstairs and ransacked her home. He took cash, a laptop, a printer, and Falun Gong books. Ms. Song's apartment was a mess. That afternoon, when her daughter, Ms. Li Shihong, came home, she was also arrested by plain clothes officers hiding and waiting for her outside.

Those responsible for this case are the team leader, whose last name is Luo, from the Domestic Security Division of Jiang'an District Police Substation, and Wan Baozhu, an officer from Danshuichi Police Station. At around 6:00 p.m. that day, Ms. Song was released, but her daughter, Ms. Li Shihong, was detained at the No. 1 Detention Centre in Wuhan City. Again, Lu Hai had to live with his grandmother, Ms. Song, alone. When they cleaned up their home, they found that a lot of money (about 1,200 yuan1) was missing. They had hoped to live on that money. No matter how they begged the police, the head of the police station didn't admit that they had taken the money. Ms. Li Shihong's arrest did away with the family's only source of income, since Ms. Li Shihong's husband, Mr. Lu Qiqi, was also detained at a prison in Guangdong Province, which is more than 1,000 miles away from their home.

In order to find something to charge Ms. Li Shihong with, agents from the Domestic Security Division of Jiang'an District Police Substation, and a policeman with the last name of Li from the Danshuichi Police Station, visited Lu Hai's school. They didn't care that Lu Hai was taking the mid-term examination at the time, and they forced his teacher to bring him to her office. They interrogated him for two hours without a break. They wanted to know who his mother contacted and what his mother had done. Little Lu Hai couldn't bear this interrogation and made a phone call to his aunt when he went to the toilet. His aunt later helped him and took him home.

A Once-happy Family That Practised Cultivation

Little Lu Hai had a happy family in those early years. His father and mother both cultivated Falun Gong. Since they followed the teachings of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, their health improved significantly, both physically and mentally, and they became virtuous people with high moral standards.

His father, Mr. Lu Qiqi, was a former state-registered engineer in the field of building design. He had a job with a high annual salary of more than 100,000 yuan. His boss also highly praised him. Lu Hai's mother, Ms. Li Shihong, is a nice person and treats others warm heartedly. People who know her all say that they can feel the compassion and selflessness of a Falun Gong practitioner from her behaviour.

Ten Years of Tribulations

On July 20th, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the persecution of Falun Gong. Because Lu Hai's parents and grandmother didn't give up their belief in Falun Gong, they were repeatedly harassed, arrested, detained, and sent to forced labour camps and even prisons.

In March 2000, CCP agents arrested Ms. Li and held her for five months. She was detained at the brainwashing centre in the Huangpi District of Wuhan city. In late 2000, without a warrant, the authorities broke in and ransacked Ms. Li's home. She was then taken to the Qiaokou District Brainwashing Centre in Wuhan City and later sent to an undisclosed forced labour camp for one year. During that time, her husband was taken by the authorities to the Sanatorium of the Wuhan City Police Department, the Wuhan City Second Detention Centre, and the brainwashing centre of Jiang'an District in Wuhan City. He was later forced to stay away from home to avoid capture.

At that time, Lu Hai was only four years old and had to stay with his grandmother. During the first half of 2002, Ms. Li was arrested and sent to the Baibuting Brainwashing Centre, where she was brutally beaten to the point that she was near death. Her family took her home from the hospital.

In April 2004, Mr. Lu went missing. In September, the family received an anonymous call and learned that he was jailed in Shayang City, Hubei Province. He was then transferred to the brainwashing centre in the Jiang'an District of Wuhan for one year. In October 2005, Mr. Lu was sent to the Hewan Forced Labour Camp in Wuhan City. In December 2007, he was arrested again while distributing Falun Gong leaflets exposing the persecution in Shenzhen City, and sentenced to four years in prison by the Baoan District Court in Shenzhen City.

Actually, what little Lu Hai's family has experienced is only "the tip of the iceberg." It is one story among many that make up the huge tragedy that our nation is now suffering from. Since the CCP launched the inhumane persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, how many Falun Gong practitioners have suffered as a result of the unbelievably brutal persecution? How many happy families have been crushed during this cruel persecution? The suffering of little Lu Hai's family clearly reflects the wicked nature of the CCP, highlighting the disaster that our nation and our people as a whole are having to endure.

The persecution hasn't stopped and the evildoings continue. We hope all those who are righteous and compassionate will help stop the persecution and help the many good people in China who are being persecuted right now.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.